Mayor's Mysterious Middle Kingdom trip

Mayor Gregor Robertson was the world's most famous mayor in February 2010 when he waved the Olympic flag during the Vancouver 2010 closing ceremony at B.C. Place Stadium. Throughout 2010, he has made attempts to capitalize on the notoriety. But it has only led to questions that have not been adequately answered.

It has taken months to extract information about the Mayor's trip to New York City. The bill has now reached more than $10,000.

In September, Robertson led a trade mission to China. Among the expenses I found out was that Vancouver taxpayers were charged the equivalent of $500 to plant a cedar tree in sister city Guangzhou, China on Sept. 15.

A cash receipt was included in documents supplied to 24 hours after a Freedom of Information request about Mayor Gregor Robertson’s trade mission.

Robertson and assistant Lara Honrado visited China Sept. 4-16, while chief of staff Mike Magee went Sept. 7-14 and Coun. Raymond Louie Sept. 9-16. They submitted claims for a combined $27,327.03. Expenses were to be reimbursed by the taxpayer-funded Vancouver Economic Development Commission.

The four spent a total $7,760.20 on luxury hotel rooms at the St. Regis in Beijing, Ritz-Carlton Portman in Shanghai, Sheraton and Tuan Bo Lake Hotspring Hotel in Tianjin and the Shangri-La Hotel in Guangzhou.

Taxpayers got billed $2,184 for a lunch hosted at the South Sea Forest Park restaurant in Guangzhou on Sept. 16, but the names and affiliations of attendees were not disclosed.

The city also paid the Canadian consulate in Guangzhou $1,372 for interpreter services and a photographer and $468 to hire Beijing Liangdian Photography Services for Robertson’s Sept. 7 stops in Shijiazhuang and Baoding. The MayorofVancouver.ca website includes only seven photos from China.

Honrado, who accounted for $11,979.93 in expenses, did not respond to an interview request. Likewise, silence from Magee.

The trip included visits to the Shanghai World Expo and Tianjin World Economic Forum. Representatives of 22 companies joined Robertson on the trip. Three symbolic agreements were signed, but no contracts.

Procrastination prevails in the Olympic city

I’m forecasting a cross-Canada blizzard of information emanating from Vancouver on Friday, Dec. 17.

The Vancouver Olympic organizing committee will publish its long-overdue, post-Games financial report. (It hasn't published any financials since Dec. 21, 2009.)

The next phase in the PricewaterhouseCoopers study on Olympic economic impacts will also be released.

The annual disclosures of British Columbia legislature members will also become public, including what gifts they received during the Games.

Maybe the minority Tory government (that has hid what it spent on the Games) will join the party and finally cough up its information. City of Vancouver in April and Province of British Columbia in July told their taxpayers how expensive the Games were ($554.3 million and $925.2 million, respectively). Ottawa has been suspiciously silent on how much of your money it spent.

All this activity is coming at a time when citizens are more interested in Christmas shopping or traveling to visit loved ones or get a tan.

Timing is everything and all those who are issuing reports deliberately chose Friday, Dec. 17. That is essentially the last Friday of 2011 on which important public business will be conducted and two days after Parliamentarians begin their break until Jan. 31.

It is human nature to spread good news far, wide and fast. When the news is not so flattering, then procrastination prevails.

Politicians have parroted the line about the Vancouver Games being the most successful Olympics ever without fully quantifying their statements.

The Vancouver Games do deserve the top, golden step in Canada’s Olympic podium. Calgary 1988 gets silver and Montreal 1976 the bronze. Vancouver 2010‘s double gold in hockey and a record 14 overall for a Winter Games host are significant achievements. But the greatest ever?

The memories will inspire a new generation of Canadian athletes. Vancouver, Richmond, Whistler and West Vancouver have varying degrees of new sport and recreation facilities for all ages. The Sea-to-Sky Highway and Canada Line make it easier to move about the region. The Vancouver Convention Centre could be one of the world’s best places for mega-meetings.

Ultimately, the Games were not financially or environmentally sustainable. There were not 3.5 billion viewers, but an estimated 1.8 billion. Ticket sales fell below projections. Salt Lake 2002 organizers published financial results in June 2002, heralding a $40 million surplus for amateur sport. VANOC has waited almost 10 months. Along the way, CEO John Furlong told us there would be no surplus. The budget is expected to balance, but with at least $80 million extra from taxpayers. These were, after all, the Bailout Games.

Nor were the Games the solution to the great ripple effects of the Great Recession. A lot of people had a good time (myself included), but the party was a nightmare for some. The families of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili and Minnesota bus driver Dale Roberge never got to welcome them back home to hear their stories of the Games. Instead, they hosted funerals. Drunken fights and sexual assaults were up region-wide. A woman staying aboard the Mona Lisa cruise ship for VANOC workforce was raped.

We still don’t know what conditions the makers of the famed Hudson's Bay Co. red Olympic mittens faced in their Chinese factory. There was no major legacy project to solve homelessness in Vancouver.

Torontonians should take notice and begin asking questions of their leaders -- including newly elected Mayor Rob Ford. Toronto is getting the Pan American Games in 2015. Four-and-a-half-years can go by quickly.

Multisport Games are massive spectacles that transcend sport. They are neither cheap nor easy, regardless of the season in which they're held.

GoDaddy Furlong master of his domain

John Furlong is now the master of his domain.

On April 26 -- just over a month after the Paralympics closed -- the VANOC chief executive registered JohnFurlong.ca with GoDaddy. Interesting choice: he is a daddy five times over and a granddaddy to 10.

On Dec. 7, Nanaimo-based Array Studios launched JohnFurlong.ca to promote Furlong's upcoming book launch and his speaking engagements. Furlong's book Patriot Hearts: Inside the Olympics that Changed a Country is out Feb. 11, 2011, the day before the first anniversary of the Games' opening.

Furlong is going headlong into the world of motivational speaking. If you've got the gift of the gab, might as well use it.

The Nanaimo connection is notable. Furlong is a former parks and recreation director of the Hub City where he promoted the So You Think You're Tough amateur boxing exhibitions.

Furlong hired Sandra Hamilton as his business manager. She is a senior partner with the Twentyten Group, a firm populated with former VANOC marketing executives and headed by Andrea Shaw. The Gastown-based Twentyten Group shares office space in 375 Water Street with VANOC, which moved there Nov. 1.

The location is, coincidentally, one floor below where the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation was in 2003 when the International Olympic Committee chose Vancouver as the 2010 host city.

VANOC is scheduled to finally release its post-Games financial report on Dec. 17. The taxpayer-backed organizing committee's finances have been secret since Dec. 21, 2009.

Olympics boss master of his domain

John Furlong is now the master of his domain.

On April 26 -- just over a month after the Paralympics closed -- the VANOC chief executive registered JohnFurlong.ca with GoDaddy. Interesting choice: he is a daddy five times over and a granddaddy to 10.

On Dec. 7, Nanaimo-based Array Studios launched JohnFurlong.ca to promote Furlong's upcoming book launch and his speaking engagements. Furlong's book Patriot Hearts: Inside the Olympics that Changed a Country is out Feb. 11, 2011, the day before the first anniversary of the Games' opening.

Furlong is going headlong into the world of motivational speaking. If you've got the gift of the gab, might as well use it.

The Nanaimo connection is notable. Furlong is a former parks and recreation director of the Hub City where he promoted the So You Think You're Tough amateur boxing exhibitions.

Furlong hired Sandra Hamilton as his business manager. She is a senior partner with the Twentyten Group, a firm populated with former VANOC marketing executives and headed by Andrea Shaw. The Gastown-based Twentyten Group shares office space in 375 Water Street with VANOC, which moved there Nov. 1.

The location is, coincidentally, one floor below where the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation was in 2003 when the International Olympic Committee chose Vancouver as the 2010 host city.

VANOC is scheduled to finally release its post-Games financial report on Dec. 17. The taxpayer-backed organizing committee's finances have been secret since Dec. 21, 2009.

WikiLeaks goes to the Olympics

Among the 251,287 United States Department of State diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks are numerous about the Olympic Games. You will see them first on WikiLeaks, but I will endeavor to reproduce many of them on this blog and offer analysis.

The Olympics used to be solely about sport, but are now more about politics, economics and security.

Here is how the U.S. Embassy in Brasillia, Brazil analyzed the 2016 Rio de Janeiro bid committee's win in Copenhagen, where the International Olympic Committee rejected bids by Madrid, Tokyo and Chicago.

REFERENCE ID: 09BRASILIA1439 CREATED: 2009-12-24 13:01 RELEASED: 2010-12-02 09:09 CLASSIFICATION: CONFIDENTIAL ORIGIN: Embassy Brasilia

VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBR #1439/01 3581308
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 241307Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0212
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
C O N F I D E N T I A L BRASILIA 001439

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/12/24
TAGS: PREL BR KOLY ASEC PGOV
SUBJECT: 2016 Rio Olympics - The Future is Now

REF: BRASILIA 347; BRASILIA 278

CLASSIFIED BY: Lisa Kubiske, Charge d'Affaires a.i.; REASON: 1.4(D)

¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Brazilians greeted the October 1 announcement that the 2016 Summer Olympics were awarded to Rio de Janeiro with an outpouring of national pride, a party on Copacabana beach and a sense of relief that the country is gaining some long overdue recognition as a regional and international leader. Politically, the GOB is looking to capitalize on hosting the games to solidify Brazil's image as the leader of South America and as an emerging global player. Internally, the IOC decision is being portrayed as a validation of President Lula's administration. The GOB understands that it faces critical challenges in preparing for the 2016 Games and has shown greater openness in such areas as information sharing to cooperation with the USG as a result - even going so far as to admit there could be a possibility of terrorist threats. The Lula government has taken care to associate Lula's chosen candidate to succeed him in 2011, Dilma Rousseff, with the IOC decision and expects the euphoria engendered by Rio's selection to translate into higher poll numbers for Rouseff. There remain, however, significant problems, that could impact the success of the Games , especially in terms of addressing security concerns. The Brazilian leadership remains highly sensitive to perceptions of USG interference and has not begun preparations for international coordination. In addition to preparing for the commercial opportunities the games will afford U.S. businesses, the USG should look to leverage Brazilian interest in an Olympic success to progress in bilateral cooperation in such areas as security and information exchanges. END SUMMARY.

¶2. (SBU) Amid the celebrations of the October 1 selection of Rio de Janeiro to host the 2016 Olympics there runs a strong current of relief among Brazilian leaders. President Lula described the feeling as "the end of the street dog complex," the idea that Brazil somehow does not deserve the status of an important country. Ministry of External Relations (MRE) Coordinator for Sporting Cooperation Vera Alvarez noted that being the first South American country chosen to host the Games was seen as evidence that the world (or at least the IOC) recognized Brazilian primacy on the continent and regional leadership. Alvarez also echoed a view expressed commonly in the Brazilian press: Rio's competitors had been Chicago (the United States), Madrid (the EU) and Tokyo (the Pacific Rim), and its victory must therefore reflect Brazil's perceived comparative success in dealing with the global financial crisis. "The IOC appreciated that we were the first to emerge from the crisis," she said.

¶3. (SBU) Asked what Brazil's goals for hosting the Games were, Alvarez repeated President Lula's assertion that these would be the "games of South America" and said that the GOB was planning to open its borders to its neighbors to encourage attendance by sports fans from all over the continent. Presidential Chief of Staff and likely presidential candidate Dilma Rousseff said the Games will provide opportunities for a younger generation of Brazilians and said the government would make numbers of tickets available to the youth of South America. Alvarez likened the effect of hosting the Games on Rio to that of the arrival of the Portuguese court in 1808, when Rio went from coastal town to the capital of an empire. She then went on to promise that the 2016 games would be the "greenest" Olympics yet and would improve Brazil's international image with their success.

¶4. (C) Though Brazil has some experience with major events such as the Pan Am Games, the Olympics will be an unprecedented challenge. The great question mark concerning Rio's selection has been the security situation, a question brought to the fore on October 17 as a gunfight between drug gangs resulted in the shooting down of a police helicopter (Ref c). MRE contacts have been defensive on security issues, telling Mission Brazil members (often without being asked) that the IOC clearly did not consider Rio's security situation inadequate. Apart from the standard MRE response, however, GOB officials have shown an understanding that security will be a serious concern for the Games. MRE political military advisor Marcos Pinta Gama suggested that the pending General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) could be followed by another arrangement to share security information for the Olympics. Alvarez went so far as to admit that terrorists could target Brazil because of the Olympics, a highly unusual statement from a government that officially believes terrorism in Brazil does not exist. The SENASP (the National Secretariat for Public Security, Ministry of Justice) has been put in charge of security for the Olympics and will be coordinating the GOB's overall on-the-ground security efforts. Rio authorities, meanwhile, expressed confidence in the impact the Favela Pacification Plan (Ref d) will have on the city's overall security. The Plan - which involves evicting drug traffickers, establishing a sustained police presence, and providing basic services to favela residents - envisions the "pacification" of over 100 favela communities by 2016 (Ref e). Internal Politics

¶5. (SBU) Even before the selection of Rio, the Lula government was hard at work to turn the decision to political advantage. Lula's chosen candidate to succeed him, Chief of Staff Dilma Rousseff, was at his side in Copenhagen for the selection, an appearance which Sport Minister Orlando Silva declared "will help Dilma's candidacy." Lula's highly visible role in lobbying for the Games is portrayed domestically as international validation of his administration and recognition of Lula as a key world player. Indeed, the reality is that much of the actual planning and preparation for Rio's bid was done by the Rio state and municipal governments. However, Rio authorities counted on Lula coming in over the top and providing the international prestige needed to win. In a recent meeting, Rio governor Cabral explained to Consul General in colorful detail Lula's tireless lobbying efforts in Copenhagen. According to Silva "The opposition will just have to swallow Lula's leadership." By claiming credit for Rio's victory, Lula seeks to bolster his already high approval ratings and then use his popularity to build support for Dilma Rousseff in the October 2010 Presidential election. As a first step, the Administration has announced a special Olympic Program for Acceleration of Growth (PAC) under Rousseff's leadership. One of Lula's signature initiatives, the PAC is a plan to use government resources to leverage private sector investment in infrastructure ( ref a). While PAC implementation has been extremely slow, the program has a positive image among Brazilians, and by putting Rousseff in the lead, Lula helps build her up as the candidate to prepare Rio for the Games.

Comment

¶6. (C) Being awarded the Olympics is seen as a major victory for Brazil in what Brazilians see as a struggle for the recognition they deserve. "We are finished being the country of the future and are the country of the present," Rousseff stated. The risk is that the GOB may choose to rest on its laurels and not get started on the work of planning the Games - Games that Lula has already dubbed a great success. Despite Rousseff's affirmation that "we have learned from the Pan Am Games," coordination for the 2014 World Cup, especially on security, lags. Attempts by Embassy personnel to establish contact with the Ministry of Sport have been refused. The GOB has articulated a vision for the Games - an Olympiad based on South American culture, openness to youth and environmentally friendly that played well in terms of domestic politics as well as appealing to the IOC. At this point, however, though state and municipal planning is moving ahead steadily, there has been little practical planning at the federal level for implementation of this grand vision. NOTE: Rio's challenges in building infrastructure and paying for the Games will be reported septel. For example, to make events more accessible to the South American public, Lula has said the GOB will distribute free tickets to the working classes and the youth of the continent. MRE admitted that there had been no thought given to how this would impact on ticket revenue projections or security, or to how the potential flow of youthful spectators across Brazil's borders would be managed. Rio also faces a host of challenges building infrastructure and paying for the Games. Lula has similarly decreed that Brazil will win more medals at the Rio Games than in the past, but there is no program in place to enhance the development of elite athletes.

¶7. (C) Brazil has shown it can host large-scale events such as the 2007 Pan Am Games, but the Olympics will present a different kind of challenge. While rejoicing in Rio's victory, the current GOB, with less than a year to go in office, seems to be taking a relaxed approach to preparation. The UK Embassy reports they have had less contact with the GOB on the Olympics than we have, even though they are eager to share lessons learned from initial planning for London 2012. While the very weak Ministry of Sport currently has the nominal lead on coordinating Olympic preparations, Mission anticipates the next Administration may organize preparations differently, perhaps through the Ministry of Planning or Casa Civil, or even establish a new agency specifically to coordinate Olympics infrastructure and security planning and logistics. Although the police and military have begun planning, the reality may well be that serious efforts await the next government, which will take office January 2011.

¶8. (C) Articulating the big picture goals and leaving details to the last minute may be a typically Brazilian approach, but could lead to problems. The delays we expect from the GOB in planning and executing the preparatory works for a successful World Cup and Olympic Games will almost certainly place greater onus on the USG to ensure that necessary standards are met. Mission Brazil has already begun coordinating among USG agencies in Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro, and has begun forward planning for the significant increases in personnel, facilities, and resources that managing U.S. involvement in the Games will require. Given the high degree of interest in the Olympics among Brazilians and the high value Brazil places on conducting a successful Games, there are already opportunities for the USG to pursue cooperation toward the Games, and to use such cooperation to further broader USG objectives in Brazil, including increased cooperation and Brazilian expertise on counterterrorism activities. As we look ahead, taking advantage of the Games to work security issues should be a priority, as should cooperation on cybercrime and broader information security (see ref B for additional areas for potential cooperation). We should also look to build in offers for dialogue on preparations for major sporting events as part of all high-level contacts with the Brazilians. KUBISKE

Sorry Edmonton, no Expo for you.

Brace yourself. It's coming and it won't be pretty.

I'm talking about the report on how much the Government of Canada spent on the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

The Province of British Columbia and City of Vancouver have reported on how much taxpayers' dollars they spent on the Games. Ottawa has been a laggard. It disclosed the G8 and G20 summits cost almost $860 million when it made a massive Friday dump of documents in the House of Commons on Nov. 5. Those events took place in Ontario in June. The Olympics were in February and Paralympics in March. Why are the Tories sitting on the numbers? What do they have to hide?

Dumb question...

Opposition parties that pander to voters in populous Ontario screamed bloody murder at G8 and G20 costs before the riot-marred Toronto summit happened. Here's what Liberal leader Michael "Iffy" Ignatieff wrote to Auditor-General Sheila Fraser. NDP Public Safety critic Don Davies also complained. Those same opposition parties have been silent on the Olympics. Seems their leaders are too afraid to question an event that delivered Canada a record 14 gold medals, including Sidney Crosby’s golden goal heard from coast-to-coast-to-coast.

They should be ashamed. They are abrogating their duties to citizens. Patriotism is about more than waving a flag and cheering at the national winter pastime.

Why am I so sure that the costs of the 2010 Winter Games will be a shock to taxpayers?

On Nov. 22, Heritage Minister James Moore wrote to Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel to tell him that Ottawa would not fund a bid for Expo 2017. Without the $706 million needed from the federal government, the $2.3 billion exposition won’t happen.

“This amount doesn’t take into account the full costs of security for this three month event nor the full costs of the Federal Government's obligations to host an event of this size,” Moore wrote. “Costs for the Federal Government for this project could easily eclipse $1 billion, and that is a financial risk we are not prepared to take at this time.”

Mandel was understandably upset. You might say he went ballistic.

Surely if the Vancouver Olympics were as successful as the spin doctors want us to believe, then why wouldn’t Edmonton’s Expo be a wise investment? (Say this with your tongue planted in your cheek, if you know what I mean).

Moore’s ministry led the $1.25 billion federal commitment to the 2010 Winter Games. That was the total pre-Games price tag for federal taxpayers. Moore’s ministry will eventually have to deliver the bad news to Canadians.

The recession-rocked Vancouver 2010 Games were the 21st century’s answer to Montreal 1976. Hope you enjoyed the party. You paid dearly for it.


If you have any doubt about the federal government's reluctance to talk about how much it spent on the 2010 Winter Olympics, read the following.

It's why I award the federal Conservatives a gold medal in the uniquely Canadian sport of freestyle, long-track evasiveness. Spokesthingys for both Heritage Minister Moore and Junior Sport Minister Gary Lunn were equally unhelpful in fulfilling my most recent request.

Enjoy this email string.

From: "Bob Mackin" [Bob.Mackin@sunmedia.ca]
 
Sent: 11/17/2010 10:37 AM EST
 
To: Vanessa Schneider
 
Subject: media request

Hello,

Is Minister Lunn  available today for a short phone interview to talk about the delay in publication of the post-Games financial report by VANOC and to discuss when the post-Games report on federal investments in the Olympics and Paralympics will be published?

Sincerely,

Bob Mackin



From vanessa.schneider@pch.gc.ca
Subject: Re: media request
Date: November 17, 2010 7:47:26 AM PST
To: Bob Mackin

Hi Bob,


I understand that you have also contacted the department in this regard. They will provide the answers to your questions.


Thanks!

Vanessa



Vanessa Schneider 

Directrice des communications/Director of Communications

Cabinet de l'Honorable Gary Lunn/Office of the Honourable Gary Lunn


From: "Bob Mackin"
Date: November 17, 2010 7:48:19 AM PST
To: vanessa.schneider@pch.gc.ca
Subject: RE: media request

Minister Lunn is the elected official who provides oversight. I am only interested in speaking with him, unless a deputy minister or David Robinson is available for an interview.


      

bob.mackin@sunmedia.ca



From: "Bob Mackin"
Date: November 17, 2010 7:36:18 AM PST
To: 
codie.taylor@pch.gc.ca
Subject: media request

Hello,
Is Minister Moore available today for a short phone interview to talk about the delay in publication of the post-Games financial report by VANOC and to discuss when the post-Games report on federal investments in the Olympics and Paralympics will be published?

Sincerely,
Bob Mackin


From: codie.taylor@pch.gc.ca
Subject: Re: media request
Date: November 17, 2010 7:45:05 AM PST
To: Bob Mackin
Cc: jean-luc.benoit@pch.gc.ca

Hi Bob,


I understand that you have also contacted the department in this regard.
 They will provide the answers to your questions.


Thanks,



Codie Taylor

Press Secretary / Attachée de presse

Office of the Hon. James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official
Languages /
Cabinet de l’hon. James Moore, Ministre du Patrimoine canadien et des
Langues officielles
Ministère du Patrimoine canadien | Department of Canadian Heritage
Gatineau, Canada K1A 0M5

codie.taylor@pch.gc.ca
Téléphone | Telephone 819-997-7788
Télécopieur | Facsimile 819-994-1267

Gouvernement du Canada | Government of Canada







From: "Bob Mackin"
Date: November 17, 2010 7:49:15 AM PST
To: codie.taylor@pch.gc.ca
Subject: RE: media request

Minister Moore is the elected official who provides oversight. I am only interested in speaking with him, unless a deputy minister or David Robinson is available for an interview.



      

bob.mackin@sunmedia.ca



What prompted my recent attempts to interview Ministers Moore and Lunn? The woefully inadequate response from their Ministry's communications office.

From: genevieve.myre@pch.gc.ca on behalf of media@pch.gc.ca
Sent: Fri 22-Oct-10 3:06 PM
To: Bob Mackin
Cc: media@pch.gc.ca
Subject: Media call regarding final report on Olympic and Paralympic

Good afternoon,

The answer to your inquiry is attached below. Please confirm receipt of this email.

Thank you
Geneviève Myre
____________________

The Federal Secretariat's Final Report will be an overall synopsis of the Government of Canada's involvement in the Games.
The report is in its final stages of development and will be posted to the Canadian Heritage website in due time.
The attached Fact Sheet lists the Government of Canada's financial contributions to the 2010 Winter Games.


Service des relations avec les médias | Media Relations Service
Direction générale des communications | Communications Branch
Ministère du Patrimoine canadien | Department of Canadian Heritage
Gatineau, Québec CANADA K1A 0M5
media@pch.gc.ca
Téléphone | Telephone 819 994-9101
Sans frais | Toll-Free 1 866 569-6155 (au Canada seulement | In Canada Only)
Télécopieur | Facsimile 819 994-1444
Téléimprimeur (sans frais) 1 888 997-3123 | Teletypewriter (toll-free) 1 888 997-3123
Gouvernement du Canada | Government of Canada


From Bob Mackin on behalf of Bob Mackin
Date 22/10/2010 10:09 PM
To genevieve.myre@pch.gc.ca
Subject RE: Media call regarding final report on Olympic and Paralympic

Could you please define "due time?"

Does "due time" mean next week, next month, next year? If you can only give me a ballpark estimate (for example: end of October, mid-November or first week of December), then that would be reasonable.

I would prefer if you could attach an estimate to "due time." Otherwise, the reader/taxpayer does not know what "due time" means.


From: genevieve.myre@pch.gc.ca
Date: October 26, 2010 12:26:16 PM PDT
To: "Bob Mackin"
Subject: RE: Media call regarding final report on Olympic and Paralympic


Good afternoon,

The answer to your inquiry is attached below. Please confirm receipt of this email.

Thank you
Geneviève Myre
__________________

The Final Report is a compilation of material from over 30 federal departments and agencies and is a large undertaking.
The Government of Canada wants to ensure the report is accurate and complete before posting it. Therefore, no specific deadline has been set. We will contact you when the report is available.

With Glowing Hearts, they'll take out the trash

In the news business, we call Friday "Take Out the Trash Day".

Governments have a nasty habit of releasing information that's destined to be unpopular or controversial on a Friday.

Government propaganda departments think that a Friday news release or news conference means unflattering information has little time to be digested and debated before the diversion of the weekend when news demand goes down.

Dubious and dastardly? Absolutely.

It's a common tactic that was explored by National Public Radio in 2005. It's employed by the British Columbia government under Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell.

B.C. Place Stadium's $365 million renovations were announced Jan. 9, 2009 in a news release. That was a Friday. So was Oct. 23, 2009 when the price was hiked to $458 million.

March 26, 2010 was when the government announced the province's biggest casino would be built west of B.C. Place Stadium. If you guessed that was a Friday, then jackpot!

Premier Gordon Campbell and finance minister Colin Hansen announced the Harmonized Sales Tax on Friday, July 23, 2009. The public uproar over the lack of public consultation was slow to begin, but did it ever snowball!

In Ottawa on Friday, Nov. 5, 2010, the federal Conservative minority government unleashed hundreds of documents showing the $860 million cost of the G8 and G20 summits in Ontario.

The latest to employ the "Take Out the Trash" strategy is VANOC.

The Vancouver Olympic committee held a post-board meeting media teleconference Nov. 17, 2010 (which was a Wednesday). Chairman Rusty Goepel, CEO John Furlong and CFO John McLaughlin (see above photo) refused to answer any substantial questions about dollars or numbers. That's because they delayed the release of the post-Games financial report yet again. Remember, this is an agent of the government whose fiscal year ended July 31.

So mark Dec. 17 on your calendar. Guess which day of the week that is?

Yep, it's a Friday.

VANOC was battered by a recession after pretending a recession of any magnitude would not happen. Now it's going way beyond overtime to clean up the books and trying to claim that they're just double-checking numbers and letting auditors audit. Truth be told, it's a bigger job than they anticipated and the costs much greater. By comparison, Salt Lake 2002 issued a financial report in June 2002.

Not only is Dec. 17 a Friday, but it's the last important business Friday of 2010.

They could have decided to "Take Out the Trash" on Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve, but that would have entailed one of the few remaining VANOC staffers to actual work.

Nov. 14: Expensive Stadium Day in Canada

What do B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver, Rogers Centre in Toronto and the Olympic Stadium in Montreal have in common?

They are all expensive, taxpayer-funded stadiums that have hosted Grey Cups and Nov. 14 is a key date in their histories.

By the time its public debt was retired in 2006, Montreal's "Big Owe" cost $1.47 billion. The French-designed retractable roof never worked. The tower that was key to the design wasn't finished when the Summer Olympics opened July 17, 1976. The Quebec government finally gave up in 1987 and shut the lid. The Montreal Expos moved after the 2004 season to Washington, D.C. The Montreal Alouettes only venture indoors for playoff games and it's closed during winters for fear of the roof collapsing under snow.

On Nov. 14, 1975, the Quebec government seized control of the financing and construction of the Olympic Stadium and created the Regie des installations Olympique. Montreal's Olympics became synonymous with corruption and cost overruns. It's a big reason why the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics had lukewarm support from British Columbians (until Canada started winning gold medals in February 2010).

Because of the grand faux pas in Montreal, Vancouver's B.C. Place Stadium became Canada's first successful indoor stadium. It employed an air-supported fabric roof design. On Nov. 14, 1982, the fans were turned on as Premier Bill Bennett witnessed his "bubble" come to life. On March 8, 1983, Queen Elizabeth II invited the world to visit for Expo 86, but the $126 million building's official opening was June 19, 1983.

The roof was deflated on May 4, 2010 and a $458 million retractable system is under construction. A fall 2011 reopening is anticipated. The first and only event confirmed under "Campbell's Crown" is the Nov. 27, 2011 Grey Cup.

Toronto's SkyDome one-upped Vancouver with its $580 million, white, egg-shaped retractable roof beneath the landmark CN Tower that opened June 3, 1989. In 1985, Ontario Premier Bill Davis projected a $130 million cost.

On Nov. 14, 1991, Ontario's NDP government privatized the stadium in a deal with eight companies for $110 million cash and $270 million in debentures. Rogers Communications eventually paid the bargain basement price of $25 million in 2004 for the home of the Toronto Blue Jays.

The 1976 Olympics opened and closed at Olympic Stadium. B.C. Place was the Olympic stadium for the 2010 Games. Rogers Centre is where the 2015 Pan American Games will begin and end.

They can run, but they can't hide!

Or, more correctly, VANOC can move out of its City of Vancouver-owned headquarters at 3585 Graveley St., reappear 8.1 kilometres west in a downtown Vancouver heritage building, refuse to tell an inquisitive reporter the address while said reporter successfully learns the address.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games has moved to 450-375 Water Street. Chief financial officer John McLaughlin and one other full-time employee, thought to be finance manager Gemma Bayley, are working in The Landing offices of Twentyten Group. It's a marketing agency opened last spring by Andrea Shaw, the ex-vice-president of marketing for VANOC.

Funny that VANOC's final act will take place in The Landing; Premier Gordon Campbell always said the Olympics would be a launch not a landing.

How long the "McLaughlin Group" will be in Gastown is undetermined.

"We will have people doing VANOC work for as long as it takes to complete everything and wind the corporation up," McLaughlin said via email. "That time frame cannot be specifically estimated as it depends as much on others as it does on us."

VANOC is expected to hold its last, major board meeting this month and publish a post-Games financial report sometime before the end of the year. It hasn't published any financial report since last December, despite requirements under the Multiparty Agreement of 2002 and a May 2007 pledge by VANOC to be transparent and accountable. Mediated talks with charter bus contractor Gameday Management Group are Nov. 8-10 over what Gameday says is a $10 million dispute.

For those keeping score at home, the Twentyten Group offices are one floor down from where the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation was headquartered in 2003 when the International Olympic Committee voted Vancouver to host the 2010 Games. The bid corporation became the organizing committee, which hosted the Feb. 12-28, 2010 Winter Olympics and March 12-21, 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, Richmond and Whistler.

The Landing is owned by the McLean Group, headed by well-known BC Liberal backer and CN Rail chairman David McLean. Among the tenants at The Landing are aforementioned Canadian National and McLean Group, Intrawest Leisure and Travel Group and Intrawest Resort Club Group, Hyphen Communications and the Vancouver Whitecaps.

VANOC was at its old headquarters on borrowed time. The lease was to expire May 31, but last January VANOC cleverly negotiated a five-month extension to Oct. 31. It agreed to sell used furniture and IT equipment originally worth $9.1 million to the City of Vancouver, its landlord, for $2.32 million. The $310,000 portion of IT equipment was a line item in a June 22 capital report to council, but the remaining $2 million-plus and $50,000 free rent was kept secret until I broke the story on Oct. 29. You can read the Freedom of Information documents I received here.

What did Mayor Gregor Robertson have to say?

"My understanding is it's a staff level decision, that procurement especially was within the jurisdiction of our staff, it wasn't a council decision," Robertson said Nov. 1. "It looked like a good deal on the face of it, keeping furniture in use. We didn't handle the details of that, we delegate issues like that to staff for decision. It looks like a good one in terms of the savings."

Rewind to Dec. 8, 2008 when Robertson took the oath of office and delivered a swearing-in speech that included this promise:

"As your city government we will lead with a bold vision. We will set clear targets, measure success, and be accountable for our actions.

"That accountability must extend to every aspect of City Hall. When the city uses your money, you have a right to know where it’s being spent, and what it’s being used for. When leaders fall short of that standard, public confidence is shaken.

"Over the next three years, we will rebuild that confidence, and ensure transparency, accountability and public debate at City Hall.

"Politicians do not always live up to that responsibility, I know. But I also know that there were literally thousands of people voting last November for the very first time.

"My commitment to them, on behalf of every member of my team, is that I will not let you down on making City Hall more open and accountable."

Robertson's first full day in office was Dec. 9, 2008, when he was a guest at the last VANOC board meeting of 2008. I can't tell you what went on behind those closed doors. VANOC board meetings have always been closed to the public and no minutes are published. I can only presume that Robertson drank the VANOC Powerade (that Coca-Cola product) and came under the five-ring spell.

Y'know, the one where public money is spent and the public is the last to know about it?

Five-ring disappearing act continues

There are even more signs of Vancouver's fading Olympic glow after the mid-October removal of the Omega Countdown Clock from the Vancouver Art Gallery's north plaza.

VANOC, or what's left of it, is packing up and moving out of Campus 2010 (above). Graham Construction is already on-site to convert the two civic-owned office buildings into the new home of the Vancouver Police Department. The city paid $24 million in 2005 to buy the complex after VANOC begged city hall for help.

VANOC, I was surprised to learn, got a five-month rent holiday. It secretly sold the City of Vancouver its head office furniture and various pieces of IT equipment for $2.3 million in a Jan. 31, 2010 contract that came after a Jan. 8, 2010 in-camera report to city council.

The whole package, VANOC claimed, was originally worth $9 million. Not a bad deal to get such a discount, but what about announcing the transaction to the taxpayers? I scoured council agendas and minutes and saw no reference to what's essentially another bailout for cash-strapped VANOC. City manager Penny Ballem (who doubles as a VANOC director) didn't respond with any comment.

The future consideration in this trade was a five-month lease extension for free. VANOC was originally supposed to hit the road May 31, but instead doesn't have to disappear until Hallow'een.

Abracadabra, VANOC will magically reappear somewhere in downtown Vancouver on Nov. 1. The notoriously secretive organization won't tell me where it's going.

"In fact, there are very few people now communicating with VANOC as almost all of the accounts have been closed," said vice-president of communications Renee Smith-Valade. "John (McLaughlin, chief financial officer) and his team are ensuring that those who need to know how to reach VANOC are aware."


My guess? Somewhere paid for with your tax dollars. I'll report it when I know it because you have a right to know.

Meanwhile on Cypress Mountain. Yes, the troublesome snowboarding and freestyle skiing venue thanks to El Nino.

The snow cannons are poised for freezing temperatures to make snow and get the 2010-2011 season underway. But it'll be without a snowboarding halfpipe. The site of American Shaun White's gold medal performance for the ages is gone. So is the daredevil jump at the climax of the snowboardcross and skicross course. That's where North Shore boarder Maelle Ricker was the first Canadian woman to win gold on home snow. She did so in the shadow of a set of green Olympic rings perched on Black Mountain.

Guess what? They're not there anymore. But you won't have to look far. They're now across from the Cypress lodge's front door, closer to Mount Strachan where no Olympic events took place (below). Sure, it'll be more accessible for tourists with cameras, but the rings would have been better left on the former field of play.

In case you're wondering, the piles of straw are not left over from the Olympics. They are part of a Hollywood North film shoot called Final Destination 5. There are, however, small quantities of straw still visible around Cypress that are remnants of the 1,000 bales imported from Oregon and Washington before the Games. Before the Games, VANOC staff at Cypress witnessed mice scurry out of the delivery trucks!